From: Jonathan Gingerich Subject: Revised Q&A for 1st Arab Israeli War Alan, et al, This is a copy of the third Q&A for 1st Arab Israeli War that includes some responses from Joseph Miranda. High time I added them... Please replace the appropriate item. Thanks, Jon. Joseph Miranda kindly and very promptly replied to my questions about 1948: First Arab-Israeli War, a simulation of the Zionist colonization of Palestine;-). His replies are in CAPITALS, [my interpretations and any response are in square brackets.] Jon. 1. May the LEHI and LEUMI units start scenario 2 stacked with themselves? with each other? with Zahal units? YES. [The rules are correct as written. The one per hex restriction applies only to Zahal units.] 2. The Arab League gains points for air attacks on Zionist cities, right? YES. [There is a typo in the Victory Points table.] 3. You can only air attack an unterrorized, unoccupied by friendly forces _city_, correct? YES. [This is an obvious addendum to an unlikely situation.] 4. Are the END of the game points for the Arab League correct? In particular should they get points for Jaffa rather than Tel Aviv? Haifa New City rather than Haifa? YES. [The rules are correct as written, despite the inconsistency.] 5. Air transport may land on an occupied city. The secret airfield may be built on an occupied city. But, air transport must take off from an (implicitly) occupied _friendly_ city. Should this be changed to any city? WELL, IF YOU ARE IN A CITY YOU CAN TAKE OFF FROM IT. [10.5b should be changed from "friendly city" to "city".] 6. Clarification: Jerusalem is a -3 because of the rough terrain, while the settlement on the coast is a -1 for the Zionists because of the sand, correct? YES. [Rules are correct as written.] Is the failure to use the noun "Palestinian" anywhere in the rules and indication of agreement with Golda? I'LL CHECK WITH ILLUMINATI CENTRAL. [Pan-Arabism is a significant politico-social force in the Arab world causing Arabs to see themselves as a single cultural entity, just as the Indian and Chinese cultures do, even though these two do not have a common language. Zionists have used this fact to argue that Palestinians are not being expelled from Palestine but rather some Arabs are being displaced to make room for another population with historical claims to the area. Palestinian scholarship has taken pains to demonstrate the existence of a separate Palestinian identity. Golda Meir is infamous for declaring "There is no such thing as a Palestinian." Most Zionist found it embarrassing not on factual grounds, but because it was so obviously wishful. In this circumstance, it is noteworthy that the sole reference to Palestinians S&T makes is "The Arab Army of Salvation (Palestinian Arabs)."] Is there a problem with calling Zionists "Zionists"? SEE ABOVE. [This was semi-serious. I do not know if there is some sensitivity (the militia movements use of ZOG?) being observed here or not, but the term is studiously avoided. Zionism is the political movement dedicated to establishing and maintaining a Jewish state. To call them "Israelis" 5 months before the declaration of the state seems premature. JM - Zionist versus Israelis--since the "real" game begins with the Independence scenario, "Israeli" was more appropriate. Since you have a multi-state Arab force, "Arab" was appropriate.] How are the boundaries of Palestine in 1947 any different than those in 1998? ALAS, THE MAP CAN NOT BE REDRAWN. [A brilliantly ambiguous answer! The rules state that the "Map boundaries are those ... in 1947" which is true, but the current boundaries of Israel, Jerusalem, and the Occupied Territories are identical to the original boundaries of Palestine. (Israel has annexed the Golan heights, but there is no international recognition of this claim, and it continues to occupy portions of Lebanon.) The world is still trying to fairly partition Palestine, just as it was in 1947.... JM - The map: originally, I was going to draw some more boundaries on it, like the UN dividing lines. But this cluttered the map.]